Posts Tagged ‘Cheese’

After a few weeks in North Carolina and a family reunion themed on remembering our roots, I wanted to spend the month of August putting a twist on family favorites and trying some Southern BBQ recipes. My testers were Amber Robinson, Matt Hardy, Jason and Erica Gardner, Stephanie Zundel, Russ Hill and Erin Mashidas. My roommate Amber Robinson helped take pictures for me, thanks Amber!
[simpleviewer gallery_id="48"]

Virgin Mint Juleps (3 Stars)

I decided to stay in NYC for Thanksgiving this year and host a big TEST NEST feast – I ended up having 14 testers. A friend who was leaving town let me use his apartment so I could comfortably fit two tables, serving tables and have access to an additional oven and fridge (not to mention that it was right across the street so easy to run back and forth between the two apartments). I wouldn’t have been able to do it without his place, so thanks David!
I eased a little of the stress by haviRead More....

Decorating and creating a Halloween themed menu made me even more excited for Halloween this year. I pulled in help from Mark Litchfield, Sally Atkinson, Mary Maroon and Angie Harding to decorate and make the prep for the dinner more manageable. It takes a lot of work to cut and clean out eight pumpkins, cut out bats, make witch hats and prepare all of the various items that were going into the pumpkin pot pies. They helped my stress level stay low and we enjoyed quality time with each other –Read More....

I was very excited to do a BBQ night for the August 13 TEST NEST. Five wonderful testers joined me: Jason Robertson, Morgan Basset, Jeff Johnson, Anna Haymore, and Todd Stevens. Outnumbered, Anna and I had a fun night of being teased…I felt right at home. I was really excited about this menu and enjoyed making a couple BBQ sauces, I still have so many recipes to try.
[simpleviewer gallery_id="17" bgcolor="ffffff" gallery_width ="600" gallery_height ="600"]

Barely cleaned up from my TEST NEST I started preparing for a Holland “show and tell” party with a small group of close friends. I was excited to share with them the green cheese that I found abroad as well as other yummy “authentic” Holland treats. Holland is famous for four types of cheeses, which I brought home: Gouda, Edam, Beemster and Lindburger (strong stuff). I also brought home stropwaffles (thin waffles sliced in half and filled with caramel sauce -- oh soooo good), Dutch pancaRead More....

May was quite the busy month. I had barely recouped from my trip to Holland and publicity for the Dance Parade (which was 3 days after later) before I was cooking away for this TEST NEST. I do love doing these dinners, and I’m getting better at being more efficient and timing things so they are hot and ready, but they are a lot of work. I had a few last minute cRead More....

This Saturday marks a year return from Dubai. Of course I miss the authentic food and wonderful culture and I wanted to recreate some of the Middle Eastern flavors and dishes I came to love. The Mezze (means sampling/small plates) menu really captured lots of the flavors of the Middle East. My wonderful guests (Nicole Hernandez, Jami and Richard Gordan-Smith, Jason Robertson, Amber Mackay, and Keila Merino) and I were stuffed – that’s the problem with sampler plates, its easy to load up.
Read More....